Poll: Can you swim and/or ride a bicycle.

[Dags90]

Read the poll options carefully so you don't misclick, check your T's. There aren't any apostrophes because the last poll borked at the apostrophes.

No water wings or training wheels allowed. Thread/poll involves unassisted swimming/cycling.

So, the replies to the recent thread have got me wondering what proportion of the Escapist can and can't swim, and I threw in riding a bike as another childhood milestone I know some people never get to.

To expand, feel free to talk about when you learned to swim/ride a bike if you can, and any accompanying hi-jinks. If you can't swim or ride a bike, feel free to list excuses/reasons for not learning. Was it lack of access, crippling fear of paved surfaces, your parents not knowing, etc.

Spoiler: My experiences

I learned to swim when I was 4, just the basic floating, treading water, doggy paddle. My summer camp had mandatory swimming lessons every morning, so I was a pretty well rounded swimmer by the time I was 13. I can do all the basic strokes (front/back/side/breast), but I sucked at butterfly at my best and probably couldn't get it going again. I usually default to the sidestroke because it's the least tiring.

Riding a bike was a bit different. My brother and I got roller blades when I was five (yay, 90's), and pretty quickly abandoned our bicycles for a while. It wasn't until I was seven or so that we learned to ride a bike without training wheels. We mostly made the switch because we were worried what people (read: other children) would think if they did see us with training wheels on. It didn't take very long for us to do it when we actually put the effort in. The biggest catalyst was seeing one of our neighbors, who was a year younger than me, without training wheels.

 

[Phasmal]

I can't swim, but I can ride a bike.

Spoiler: Because...

I was born with a perforated eardrum that never really healed (I had an operation to fix it when I was 11), so putting my head under water caused me a lot of pain. Because of this, I always stayed in the shallow end.
A few times I'd end up underwater anyway and it would hurt like someone pouring acid into your brain. Like, a kid held my head underwater in the ocean once on a school trip, only for a few seconds but it was enough. Another time I was at a friend's birthday pool party and I was sitting on a little float and someone who didn't know about my ear pushed it over. Because of all that I got incredibly stressed around water when I was a kid. We did try earplugs but they kept falling out.
Oh yeah, and I very nearly drowned one time because my mum was off with my sister doing something and me and my sister went into the deep end and then they turned the waves on and I lost my grip on the side of the pool and went under. So generally water is not my friend.

I never had any trouble riding a bike. I used to go everywhere on my bike.
Damn, I want another bike.

I may learn to swim, but I may not. It's not really a massive thing in my life, so I'm always surprised how shocked people get when I say I can't swim.

 

[Stasisesque]

I learned to swim later than my peers. I was the ripe old age of 7! My maternal grandmother and my dad, who hated one another, took it in turns to teach me. Then my mum took me to Kos to show off my swimming prowess, so she won the battle. Neither my mum nor my nan ever learned to swim; my dad is a very strong swimmer. I'm not a particularly strong swimmer, but I can swim in the sea.

My best friend passed her bike down to me when she decided purple wasn't her colour and got a much cooler one. It was a little embarrassing as she is three years younger than me. She and her sisters, with a little help from my dad, helped me learn to ride - and soon we were popping wheelies and generally menacing the neighbourhood with our BMXs. I progressed to a mountain bike in my teens; then, when I moved out, my dad unceremoniously sold my bike and I haven't forgiven him yet.

 

[JayElleBee]

I can swim (but probably not very well. It's been a while) but I never learned how to ride a bike. My dad tried to teach me a couple of times I think, but eventually I was just like "LOLNOPE" and stuck with scooters.

Scooters are cooler anyway.

 

[Scrustle]

I can ride a bike but I can't swim.

I can't swim because I find myself unable to float. I can't trust the water to support me. I try but I feel myself start to sink and then I panic. I can't stop myself. I just can't do it. I recall one time as a child I learned how to float in the sea once, but I've never been able to do it before or since. I think it might have something to do with the fact I'm skinny as shit.

I did have swimming lessons as a young child though, kind of. It was a traumatic event. I was always bullied at school and having to expose myself like that just made things worse. People just laughed at how useless I was. The "teacher" was fucking useless as well. They gave me next to no instructions at all. They just told me to try and float. Well I fucking couldn't, and just telling me to do it won't fix anything. Fucking stupid *****.

So I can't swim and I have no intention of ever learning.

Riding a bike is a different story. I picked that up really easily as a child. I remember the first time I was able to ride a bike by myself I spent some time simply going around in circles. I was trying to turn in to my lean to right myself, but I didn't realise that I was leaning because I was turning. I was stuck like that for a little while.

In secondary school I used to ride my bike to school every day and one year I joined in with everyone who was getting in to mountain biking. That summer was damn fun. Did some crazy shit. Since leaving school my bike just collects dust in the garage though.

 

[A Raging Emo]

I can both swim and ride a bike.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I can both swim and ride a bike.

Swimming I learnt because in my Primary school we were taken to swimming pools on Friday's at the local leisure centre to learn, which was quite fun also. With biking, my Dad taught me and all my siblings how to ride at the park near my house and I think I was around 10 or maybe less when he finally taught me but I can't remember what my age was exactly. I do have memories of it though, lots of falling over...

 

[teqrevisited]

I can do both.

Riding a bike came earlier because it was either that or get left behind by my friends who could ride theirs.

I learnt to swim at around 8 or 9. We were on holiday in Majorca and my dad threw me into the hotel's pool. Not only did I learn how to swim, I also learnt that people drop a lot of change in the deep end.

 

[Dags90]

I can't swim because I find myself unable to float. I can't trust the water to support me. I try but I feel myself start to sink and then I panic. I can't stop myself. I just can't do it. I recall one time as a child I learned how to float in the sea once, but I've never been able to do it before or since. I think it might have something to do with the fact I'm skinny as shit.

<--- Currently 6' and 135#. Always rail thin. I can float pretty well. I can keep my head out of the water while floating if I hold my breath.

The "I'm too dense to float" thing is mostly myth. Take a look at an Olympic swimmer, those guys can sure as hell float, and there's not an ounce of fat on them. Maybe if you have tiny lungs, that might be the reason. Not quite as flattering as "I can't float because I'm so shredded, grr", but maybe more accurate (but probably still not). Most people who can't float just don't go about it right. Relax, inhale deeply, spread out.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I can swim pretty well. I used to be able to ride a bike when I was a kid, but it's been years since I last went on one and I've completely forgotten how.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

I can swim, and I haven't tried biking in over 6 years so I can't really say. Back then I could, but I haven't tried so I truly have no say.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I can swim while riding a bike.

That's just how talented I am

I use to swim and cycle a lot when I was a kid, especially during the summer holidays.

But then I grew up and got lazy

 

[Scrustle]

I can't swim because I find myself unable to float. I can't trust the water to support me. I try but I feel myself start to sink and then I panic. I can't stop myself. I just can't do it. I recall one time as a child I learned how to float in the sea once, but I've never been able to do it before or since. I think it might have something to do with the fact I'm skinny as shit.

<--- Currently 6' and 135#. Always rail thin. I can float pretty well. I can keep my head out of the water while floating if I hold my breath.

The "I'm too dense to float" thing is mostly myth. Take a look at an Olympic swimmer, those guys can sure as hell float, and there's not an ounce of fat on them. Maybe if you have tiny lungs, that might be the reason. Not quite as flattering as "I can't float because I'm so shredded, but maybe more accurate (but probably still not)." Most people who can't float just don't go about it right. Relax, inhale deeply, spread out.

It's not that I'm "dense", it's that there's hardly any of me there. But it's not just the skinniness, like I said I just can't trust the water to support me and I panic. I'm pretty sure I don't have tiny lungs though, I don't get out of breath easily. But I might do, I don't really know. I think it's mostly down to the panicking.

Captcha: "yellow belly" - Well thanks for the vote of confidence.

 

[Ryotknife]

man, after reading this thread i want to scuba dive again....

 

[manic_depressive13]

Define 'swimming'. I probably wouldn't drown if you tossed me into some water but I'm not a strong swimmer. I can float, tread water and doggy paddle.

I can ride a bike.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I can both ride a bike and swim.

Admittedly though, I'm not a particularly strong swimmer. When I was little I loved swimming, but as I got older I got more and more self-conscious about my body. In my teens I put on a lot of weight and felt too embarrassed/ashamed to go swimming. I've since lost the weight I put on... but I just never really felt like going back in the water.

 

[Eleuthera]

I'm Dutch half our country is below sea level, so pretty much anyone over the age of 6 is at least a semi-proficient swimmer. there are also mandatory swimming classes in lower education (at least there were when I was young). As to riding a bike, that is also almost mandatory, anyone over the age of 5 or 6 will be able to rida a bike unassisted.

The only people who can't ride a bike or swim are immigrants or expats (or possibly their kids).

 

[Hagi]

Being Dutch, I can naturally do both.

I don't think there's a single Dutch child, without a serious medical condition, that does not learn these things.

On top of that basically everyone owns a bike at all times here.

 

[DustyDrB]

I live on the coast. I sometimes ride my bike to the beach and go swimming when I get there.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I went through a few years of swimming lessons (probably 5-6 years), so I know the mechanics pretty well, but I'm probably not a strong swimmer as I have bathing suit issues being a girl. Haven't swum in years.

I can ride a bike, though. I don't do it often at all, but I used to all the time when I was younger. I need a helmet now, though, so that's keeping me from really doing much cycling these days. ... I"m also really lazy.